Within, this
curve corresponded to a hollow in the manner of a wide vaulted niche
occupied by the hearth.
The house, despite its tiny size, had no uniform system of roofing; in
some spots tiles were substituted by strips of tin with heavy rocks
holding them in place and the interstices chinked with straw; in
others, the slate was mortared together with mud; in still others,
sheets of zinc provided protection.
The construction of the house betrayed each phase of its growth. As
the shell of the tortoise augments with the development of the
reptile, so did the rag-dealer's hovel little by little increase. At
first it must have been a place for only one person, something like a
shepherd's hut; then it widened, grew longer, divided into rooms,
afterwards adding its annexes, its shed and its yard.
Before the door to the dwelling, on a flat stretch of tamped earth,
stood a carrousel surrounded by a low, octagonal impalement; the
stakes, decayed by the action of moisture and heat, still showed a
vestige of their original blue paint.
Those poor merry-go-round steeds, painted red, offered to the gaze of
the indifferent spectator the most comical, and at the same time the
most pathetic sight. One of the coursers was of indeterminate hue; the
other must have forgotten his paws in his mad race; one of them, in a
most elegantly uncomfortable pose, symbolized humble sadness and
honest, refined modesty.
Pages:
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248